A fabric soft cover may be used to hold a fuselage-mounted evacuation slide in its container (i.e., packboard). The soft cover may have two fabric panels attached to the container to form a lid. The fabric panels may be laced together using speed lacing. The fabric panels may be designed to open to deploy the evacuation slide. Typically, the lacing is cut or opened to deploy the slide. Solutions for unlacing the panels by using initial inflatable/aspirator motion to remove a pin may be sensitive to inconsistencies in lacing or otherwise be unreliable. Solutions making the pin frangible so that it snaps to allow deployment may cause damage to the slide. Electrical solutions may cut the lace using an electrical signal, but in some aircraft an electric signal may not be available to trigger the cutting device.